Lake Baikal

A simple kayak and a paddle as old as the hills - that's all you need to strengthen your body and soothe your soul. For a time you can forget those towns drowning in their grey haze, those endless urgent matters and constant fuss. You can return to where you have come from and where you should be always - you can return to Nature. It will be around you in beautiful mountains, meadows, forest and air, full of the smell of the sea, cliffs and wild flowers, beneath you - in crystal clear water, and above - the fathomless blue of the sky, the blinding white of clouds and hot sun, making way at night for those madly scattered stars. You will see majestic cliffs where time itself carved out startling grottos and caves, mysterious rock paintings - the creation of distant ancestors, cosy bays and inlets. You will see Baikal, touch it and try to understand.

For the time being I invite you to make a virtual trip around Lake, to those places I have been. If you become inspired with the magic of Baikal and respect for this great lake, I will know that I haven't wasted my time setting up this site.

In the section About Baikal you can find information about climate, geographical position, the age, plant and animal life of lake. The peculiarities of Baikal's winds are described in detail, and there is also information about the protected territories - national parks, nature reserves and game reserves along the lake's shores.

The section Special Locations contains articles on sites of particular interest.

One of the largest sections of the site is the Baikal Photos where there are hundreds of photographs of lake taken during my trips. Amongst the photographs presented are panoramic photos and space images of Baikal.

«Baikal is amazing, and it is not without reason that Siberians refer to it not as a lake, but as a sea. Its water is unusually transparent, so that one can look though it as through air; its colour is a soft-turquoise, pleasant to the eye. Its shores are mountainous and forest-covered; impenetrable wilderness all around. A profusion of bears, sable, wild goat and all sorts of wild thing», was how Anton Chekhov spoke of Lake Baikal.